Marble shooter



Dec. l2, 1950 J. YATEs 2,533,659

MARBLE SHOOTER Filed July 12, 1946 INVENTR. da e/U ja Patented Dec. 12, 1950 ".3 Claims.

, A1 .',Mylinventionrelates to toys and .hasiorlits A.objectto provide va new and novel` marbleeshooifingitoy .whichmay be utilized vto shoot a.` marble vin.a.marble game or on a...pla,ygro.und ror rany .otherplace Y'desired in which 4the skill 4of direci .tion .rather .than the; skill of .the -fingers regu- .lates .the accuracy in-shooting-.the marble.

vA-fnrther Objectis Vtcprovide a simply .conm structed,` highly .ell'lcient marble-shooting device having a pair of spaced apart gripping .iingers between whichthe marble is placed and atrigger for release of the spring mechanism for shooting thefniarble `from between the lingers. These objects l. accomplish with .the device illustrated 'in "the accompanying drawings .in which similar numerals andletters of'reference indicate like partsv throughout i the -several views andfdescribed in the specication forming a part -of..ths application and .pointedout in .theapfpended claims.

I-nthe .drawings Figure 'T1- jis a top plan View cof the marble :shooter with the spring released;

.-Figure..2-is a bottom plan View of the' device.

lliigure l3- .is a vertical longitudinal :section Athereof.

Figure i is a front end or face View of the marble shooter taken from the end in which the marbles are placed ready for shooting.

Figure 5 is a view of the opposite or rear end of the marble shooter.

Figure 6 is a vertical longitudinal section of the device, parts being shown in elevation with the marble in place and the spring cocked ready for shooting the marble.

Figure '7 is a side elevation of Figure 1.

Figure 8 is a side elevation of the spring guide.

Figure 9 is an end view of Figure 8.

In the drawings I have shown my marble shooter as consisting of a cylindrical or tubular body 5 having one end open at 6 and provided with oppositely-disposed, laterally-offset, integral fingers 1 and 8 extending forwardly from the end of the body 5 and curved inwardly at 9 and IU to grip the marble therebetween. The body 5 is made of a single sheet of metal formed into a tube with integrally-formed, downwardly projecting legs II and I2 on the forward end thereof. These legs are formed into an inverted Y-shaped supporting bracket by bending their lower ends outwardly at a and b. The intermediate portions of the legs are secured together by a clip or band I3, a supporting bracket at the forward end of the shooter being thus pro vided. The rear end of the body is provided with .'.lugs `I3.' adapted 'to'.be 'bent'inwaidly to .hold a Springguide I4 in place'in the"body.

"The ,spring guide AIl'is la ro'd having a -cylindrical head heldin asheet' metal clamping.. strip .'II which forms a closure for `the rear'end of Lthetbe`5. The..strip"l'6`has a circular portion against which the hea'dJI5 is 'held' by inwardly .and head .are held in "place over'the rear ,end of the tube 5 by bending "the` clips I3 thereover "forward end of 'the'spring ente'rstherear'geird of a tubular marble projecting plunger' I"sleeve .18; This 'snootinglplunger I8 'is also ima'de'if-a vsinglestripofmetal.bent toz form a cylindrical tube of'smaller diameterthan the"tu1be"5. '..The plunger Asleeve 'telescopes 'into .the tube l"5' "and .20" has. a looseslding movement' therein, being movable backward' in the'tu'be' by' a cooking finger I9. The latter is formed by bending'two inteor cylinder L"5", which "slot" is vmarde between the two edgescof-the side walls ofthe-plungerftube when it is formed.

One side of the bottom portion of tube 5 is provided with an integral ear which is bent back upon itself over the body of the tube 5 adjacent the forward end thereof to act as a stop 2I for the cooking nger I9 when the device has been shot or released.

A trigger projection 22 is formed on the rear end of the top side of sleeve I8 and is adapted to engage against an end wall 23 of a slot or opening 24 formed in the top of the rear end portion of the tube 5, when the device is cocked ready for ring, as shown in Figure 6.

Inwardly extended bosses 25 are provided adjacent the rear end of the plunger I8 to hold an abutment washer 26 in place therein, and against which washer the forward end of the spring thrusts. Thus, when cooking the shooter preparatory to shooting, the nger I9 is drawn back toward the rear end of the tube 5 and the spring is compressed around the spring guide I4, as shown in Figure 6. When the marble is in place between the spring lingers 'I and 8 and the device is cocked as shown in Figure 6, pressure on the top or" the trigger 22 releases the plunger I8 causing its forward end to knock the ball from between the lingers 1 and 8 and shooting it forcibly therefrom.

It will be noted on reference to Fig. 6 that due to the looseness of the plunger sleeve I8 within the cylinder or body and the provision of the upwardly projecting trigger projection 22 substantially diametrically opposite the cocking iinger piece IS, that when the nger piece 9 is pulled rearwardly to compress the spring l1 there will be a tendency of the trigger projection 22 to move upwardly into the opening 24 and hook against the forward end wall 23 of that opening. By simply pressing the projection 22 downwardly out of the opening the opening the plunger will be released.

It will be seen that the entire device with the exception of the coil spring and its guide pin may be inexpensively formed from a few pieces of sheet metal; and that the parts may be quickly and easily assembled to provide a strong,

dudrable and effective marble shooter.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A marble shooting toy comprising a hollow cylindrical body formed from a single bent metal sheet and having in its top adjacent its rear end 'a trigger engaging opening, said body also having in its bottom at its rear end a longitudinal slot, the front end of said body being open and formed with a pair of integral, downwardly projecting clip-connected legs having outwardly bent ends to provide an inverted, Y-shaped support for the toy, a hollow cylindrical Vplunger loosely slidable in the open iront end of said body and having at its rear end a cooking nger projecting downward through said slot, the rear end of said plunger having at its top atriggerl projection to enter said opening in the body, a spring abutment in the rear portion of said plunger, a coil spring in the rear portion of said body and thrusting at one end against said abutment, and a closure for the rear end of said body and carrying a guide pin disposed within said spring.

2. A marble shooting toy comprising a hollow cylindrical body with open ends and formed in its top with an opening adjacent its rear end and in its bottom with a longitudinal slot extending forwardly from the rear end of said body, means at the forward end of said body for releasably holding a marble, a cylindrical plunger loosely slidable in the front end of said body and having a depending cooking finger at its rear end slidable in said slot, the rear end of said plunger having on its top a trigger projection to engage in said opening in the body, a spring abutment at the rear of said plunger, a .closure for the rear end of said body, and a. coil spring in said body between said closure and said abutment.

3. A marble shooter of the class described comprising a single sheet of metal bent and formed into a cylinder with two strips of metal from the forward end extended down to form an inverted Y-shaped support for the forward end of the shooter and with a slot along the bottom side of said cylinder near the rear end; an inner plunger sleeve loosely slidable in said cylinder, said cylinder having a spring guide carried in the rear end thereof; a coil spring carried on said guide and within said cylinder to be compressed onto said guide when the shooter is cocked; a cooking nger extending downwardly from said sleeve and operable in said slot; and a trigger projection on the top of the sleeve to engage an opening in the top of the cylinder to hold the spring compressed, the spring being released by linger pressure on the top of said trigger projection.

JOSEPH YATES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 174,780 Churchill Mar. 14, 1876 372,981 Jackson Nov. 8, 1887 ,387,761 Briggs Aug. 14, 1888 729,444 Strasser May 26, 1903 812,613 Tait Feb. 13, 1906 959,028 Reilly May 24, 1910 1,604,023 Coyle Oct, 19, 1926 1,832,330 Stark Nov. 1'7, 1931 

